


the garden

by verbatiim



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Mutual Pining, Thanatos pretending to be mad, hades spoilers, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:54:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27054496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verbatiim/pseuds/verbatiim
Summary: Zagreus chooses not to take it personally, though he's certain he's supposed to do just that, sometimes.
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 173





	the garden

He's usually hard to find.

  
Whether out of sheer obligation or purposeful hiding, Thanatos makes himself scarce around the House. He's busy. They all are. Zagreus chooses not to take it personally, though he's certain he's supposed to do just that, sometimes.

  
So it feels like an accident when he finds him, this time.

  
The hood of his cloak is down, bunched around his neck and resting across his shoulders. Scythe long forgotten—or meticulously placed elsewhere. He clutches the threshold where he stands looking upon the garden, as though he were the one disallowed to go outside all his life. Though a romp through the Underworld is probably strictly business for the likes of him. Little time to admire the scenery.

  
"Catch your eye?" Zagreus tries, approaching with all the caution as he would an injured animal. It doesn't matter. Thanatos seems to be expecting him.

  
"The garden," he replies simply. "It's been locked off since the Queen departed."

  
"Well, you're more than welcome to go out. Enjoy the sights, breathe a little fresh air, all that."

  
"The air in Tartarus is far from fresh." It almost sounds like a joke. Almost. There's something there in his voice, like joy. He glances back at Zagreus. "Join me." Like relief.

  
It's impossible to say no.

  
Zagreus closes the distance between them, finally, blessedly, and takes a loose hold on his arm to guide him through the small meadow. He's warm for once. Like the fear has stopped chilling his skin to ice, a moment's reprieve, and there's color in his face. Thanatos is a gentle God, and Zagreus holds this fact dearly. Watches the wonder make its home in his expression as he takes in the flowers and pomegranate trees for the first time in many years.

  
"You spent a lot of time out here, I'll take it?"

  
"Your mother—the _Queen,_ " he corrects. "This was her favorite place in all the Underworld. When we were young and Mother Nyx was preoccupied, she would let Hypnos and I stay here with her." There are long stretches of silence. Neither of them move from their spot, and Zagreus doesn't dare to push it. Not now. Not anymore. Thanatos spares a glance down to where their skin meets, finally, and stares. "I wonder what will become of you, now. That you've nothing left to chase."

  
"My escape was never for _fun_ , Than. And not… Necessarily to leave, either." It's complicated. "I wanted to find her. I wanted answers."

  
"And you got them."

  
"I did." There's a wry smile pulling at the edges of Zag's mouth. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you missed me."

  
Thanatos ignores him as effortlessly as ever. "So you'll stay."

  
"Yes, Than."

  
"I have missed you," he finally admits when he's satisfied with his answer. "Through my youth, you were all I had. And my brothers, besides." There's a look on his face, a tight one, one that suggests he wasn't prepared to have this conversation. Though maybe he wasn't prepared to see Zagreus again at all. "When I learned of your plan to leave, I…"

  
"Lost your cool, maybe a bit."

  
"You never said goodbye. You never said _anything_." Thanatos is not a cruel God. His rage is not all-encompassing. More low, more soft, more somber. "And all the while I could do nothing but stop myself from begging you not to go."

  
"You understand why I had to."

  
"I have never done anything but try to understand you."

  
"I know." Zagreus strokes his hand up the back of Than's arm, holds a new grip on his shoulder. "I adore you for that."

  
"And now you'll stay. Just as easy as that."

  
"Sometimes, things are better left simple. Don't you agree?" He doesn't look amused. Zag smiles again. "You can be angry with me for as long as you like. I'll wait."

  
"I'm not angry with you, Zagreus. I was… Fearful. To lose my closest companion. You've no idea what that's like."

  
"Say, I was going to lose mine."  
  


"As though you cared."  
  


"I did. And I do." His other hand reaches out, and is easily met in kind. Thanatos does not know how to be wrathful. "I never envisioned a world on the Surface where I would be truly happy, in all aspects. Losing you would be losing one of the biggest parts of myself. But I needed to see. To know."  
  


Zagreus feels the grip on his fingers tighten.  
  


"Never scare me like that again."  
  


"Wouldn't dream of it."  
  


He'll get it, one of these days. Thanatos is cold and fitful and does not deal in fairness, but he'll come to understand. For now, his fears are quelled, and it is enough. Zag makes sure of it.  
  


They share their first kiss there, in the garden, under the clouds and the pomegranate trees.  
  


Nyx watches from her post with a certain knowing pride. Just as the Fates had intended.

**Author's Note:**

> hi i've been watching + playing hades for the past 6 days so you know i had to do it. this whole thing is kind of based off of the fact that thanatos doesn't work with violent death and is extremely sad and sappy about zag trying to leave (that whole "if you won't say it, i will" interaction). thx for the read! ♥


End file.
